Combined mop holder and wringer.



V. G. MoINTOSH. oommmn m0? HOLDER AND wnmena. APPLIUATIOH FILED AUG. 23, 1911.

1,012,142. Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

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HER AT 1- amply UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VIRGINIA C. MDIN'I'OSH, 0F SHARPSBURG BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED MOP HOLDER AND WRINGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 23,

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

1911. Serial No. 645,575.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VIRGINIA C. MoINTosH, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the borough of Sharpsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Combined Mop Holders and Wringers, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a combined mop-holder and wringer, which may be readily knocked down for convenience in transportation; that is to say, in which the parts are removably related or associated in the complete structure, whereby the device may be taken apart and separated into its constituent elements or component parts, when it is desired to pack them into a small compass, as for transportation; or whereby, when one of the members or parts of the structure becomes broken in use, it may be removed from the device and a new part substituted, without necessitating the financial loss of throwing away the entire device.

Another object is to provide a combined mop-holder and wringer, in which the wringer, which is longitudinally reciprocable, is susceptible of being held in any of its adjusted positions of longitudinal reciprocation by mechanical looking or clamping means, thus dispensing with the necessity of the operator laboriously manually holding said wringer in said adjusted position.

Another object is to provide a combined mop-holder and wringer, in which the mopholder and the wringer are so connected or associated that it is possible to adjust said connections to permit of the use of wringersticks of dllIBIlIl lengths.

Generally spea ing, my device is composed of a stick or handle proper provided on its lower end with a ring, preferably loosely attached, through which the mop rag or cloth is looped, and an operating rod slidingly and rotatingly mounted on said handle and provided w1th gripping jaws which engage the ends of the mop rag. When the mop is in use for mopping up a floor or other surface, the operating rod is deressed, allowing the rag to hang loosely ut when the rag becomes saturated, the operating rod is raised to straighten out the rag and rotated to twist the ra and force out the water held thereby. he rod is preferably provided with convenient means for holding it in either its raised or lower position.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention, showing the operating rod depressed and the mop rag untwisted, for mopping purposes, while Fig. 2 is a broken elevation showing the rod raised and the ra twisted to wring out the water contained in the rag as a result of the mopping operation.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings.

1 is the mop handle or stick, shown with broken ofi' upper end in the drawings but of sufiicient length to enable the operator to stand upright in a comfortable position. The stick is preferably made of wood.

2 is the operating rod or wringer-stick, preferably made of metal, for strength, or of wood for cheapness, screw-threaded at its lower end, as shown, and supported by collars 3-3 which are mounted on standards 44r fixed to handle 1 by any convenient means, such as by collars 55 to which said standards are attached and which are fixed on handle 1 by means of set screws 6-43. The rod 2 is capable of either longitudinal or rotary movement in collars 3-3. By means of the set-screws 6, 6, the position of the collars 5, 5 may be adjusted on the mop-stick 1, thus to permit wrin er-sticks 2 of differing lengths to be use as the exigencies or desires of the particular operator may demand. Also by the use of the set-screws 6, 6 and sliding collars 5, 5,

the latter may be removed from the mopstick 1, when it is desired to pack the parts for shipment.

7 is a cross piece on the to of rod 2 by means of which said rod may e raised, lowered or rotated, as desired. The rod 2 may be secured in either its raised or lower position by means of a set screw 8 mounted in the top collar 3 and capable of impinging ugon said rod 3. This construction is very e cacious and desirable, as it obviates the necessity of the operator laboriously manuall holding the wringer-stick 2 in a desire position.

9 is a ring loosely attached to the lower end of the handle 1 by any convenient means, such as the looped strap 10 passing through said ring and secured to handle 1 by rivets 11-11. The rin 9 isimportant, since, by its use, a more venient attachment of the mop-rag to the reely swinging and conmop-stick 1 is afi'orded; because, as it is loosely carried by the strap 10 and is inde endently rotatable thereon and is also independently sidewise movable thereon, it does not mar the floor in the use of the device; since the ring is freely independently movable in all directions, it can be kept off the floor, or, if it does contact with the floor, it is a yielding contact, which is insufficient to scrape or mar the floor.

12 is a socket screwed on the lower end of rod 2 and provided with an integral alligator jaw 13 and a pivoted alli ator jaw 14.

15 is a threaded bolt secure to the jaw 13 and passing through a hole in the jaw 14 and engaggd on its outer end by a thumb nut 16. y the threaded engagement of socket 12 with stick 2, it will be seen that it may be readily removed. Thus, if a stick 2 (which is more or less fragile, if constructed of wood) breaks in use, the socket 12 may be removed therefrom, and a new stick 2 substituted, without necessitating the financial loss of throwing away the socket 12, which is the most expensive portion of the wrin er.

17 1s the mop rag or cloth which is looped through the ring 9 and is engaged at its ends by the alligator jaws 13 and 14, which are ti htened together by means of the bolt 15 and nut 16.

When the mop is being used for cleaning purposes, such as gathering up water, the rod 2 is depressed, as in Fig. 1, so that the rag 17 is loosely sustained. When the rag becomes saturated, the set screw 8is loosened and the rod 2 raised to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus straightening out the rag 17.

The rod 2 is then rotated, twisting the rag and wringing out the water therefrom. The rod 2 is then rotated in the o posite direction to untwist the rag 17 and the rod 2 is also then depressed again into the position shown in Fig. 1 to allow the rag 17 to hang loosely for mopping purposes, the set screw 8 being then tightened to hold the rod 2 in place.

It is evident from the above that the mop rag may be wrung out without placing the hands in the water or handling the wet rag and this without the use of expensive gear wheels and cranks. The mop may be wrung out and readjusted for further mopping without the operator stooping or raismg the mop. The structure is extremely simple, durable and inexpensive, and at the same time performs its function more satisfactorily than do the more complicated, fragile and expensive devices now in general use for the same purpose.

What I desire to claim is A combined mop-holder and wringer, comprising a mop-stick, a loo ed strap carried by the lower end thereoi a ring loosely passin through the loop of said strap and movab e, independently of said strap, in all directions, a wringer-stick operatively associated with said mop-stick, and mop-rag engaging means carried by the lower end of said wringer-stick.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this 19th day of August, 1911.

VIRGINIA C. MoINTOSH.

Witnesses:

E. A. LAWRENCE, W. S. WALSH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. 0." 

